Galatasaray tipped for Emirates Cup invite

According to TurkishFootball.com, Arsenal have invited Galatasaray to take part in this summer’s Emirates Cup.

The showpiece pre-season tournament, which took a sabbatical last year due to the Olympics, is set to be played on the first weekend of August once the Gunners have returned from their tour of the Far East.

Galatasaray, who recently lured Wesley Sneijder and Didier Drogba to Istanbul, are better known to Arsenal fans as the club who paid good money for tiger-costume loving Emmanuel Eboue…well that and the ugly ruckus in Copenhagen when we lost to them in the UEFA Cup final back in 2000.

Reigning champions of the Turkish Super Lig, Fatih Terim’s side are certainly a force to be reckoned with at the moment having progressed to the Champions League quarter-finals.

In addition to the Turkish giants, the report also claims that Juventus and Real Madrid, who signed a sponsorship agreement with Emirates in 2011, could also make the trip to London. Both sides have featured before.

Whether Arsenal fans find themselves ironically chanting ‘We’ve only come to see Eboue’ remains to be seen. Confirmation on the Emirates Cup line-up and the rest of the pre-season schedule is expected in the coming weeks.